Joint Venture

Isaac Lee, the president of Univision Communications Inc.'s Univision News, has been named chief executive officer of Fusion, the soon-to-be-launched cable channel that is a partnership between the Spanish broadcaster and ABC News. Beau Ferrari, Univision's executive vice president of operations, had been serving as acting president for Fusion. A veteran journalist and Colombia native, Lee has been overseeing the development of Fusion, which is expected to launch at the end of the month and targets the growing population of English-speaking Latinos.

"Temples of Chance" by David Johnston, reviewed by Nick Tosches Nov. 15, sounds like a must research book as I prepare to write my own memoirs. When I was 17 I hung out with Texas underworld characters and shilled for for a San Antonio after-hours gambling joint. Although I never met the legendary Benny Binion, I'm willing to bet that both David and Nick missed his point when quoting "Better to have a little joint and a big bankroll than a big joint and a small bankroll." The "players" I knew were sexy guys, and rather than advising someone on real-estate size, Binion was much more likely to have been referring to their anatomy.

In one of the largest deals in global corporate history, Verizon Communications Inc. agreed to pay $130 billion to buy Vodafone Group's 45% stake in Verizon Wireless and take full control of the nation's top wireless carrier. The deal would put to an end a joint venture launched by the two telecom giants in 2000 after a string of mergers that had altered the contours of the mobile-phone industry. Verizon had made repeated attempts during that time to acquire Vodafone's stake, but the two could not agree on price.

Creative Artists Agency and one of the top talent agencies in India, Kwan Entertainment & Marketing Solutions, have formed a joint venture to represent Bollywood talent, in a move that underscores the importance of the growing Asian market to the entertainment industry. The newly formed CAA Kwan will pursue opportunities for talent in film, television, music, commercial endorsements, sports consulting and other businesses. The company will be based in Mumbai, with offices in Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Sotheby's will expand its presence in China with a new, 10-year joint venture that will see the auction house giant team up with a state-owned Chinese art company. The deal will create a new entity called Sotheby's (Beijing) Auction Co., Ltd. Sotheby's said the new company would be the first international fine-art auction house in China. The agreement is subject to approval from the Chinese government. Under the new deal, Sotheby's said it would focus on auctions and exhibitions.

Broadcasting giant CBS Corp. is the latest U.S. media company to enter the fast-growing Indian television market, teaming up with a company backed by one of India's wealthiest men. CBS announced Wednesday that it had structured a 50-50 joint venture with Anil Dhirubhai Ambani's Reliance Broadcast Network that initially will launch three English-language channels in India. The pay television channels, expected to go on the air in October, will target India's younger and more affluent audiences, showcasing programs that CBS owns including "NCIS," " CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and its eagerly awaited remake of " Hawaii Five-0.

L.L. Knickerbocker Co. said it has formed a 50-50 joint venture with Arkenol Holdings L.L.C. to use Arkenol's technology to make chemicals, biomass solids and liquid fuels to sell in some Asian markets. L.L. Knickerbocker said the joint venture will acquire licenses for Arkenol's technology to convert plant materials into ethanol and other chemicals. The joint venture, which is called Arkenol Asia, will sell the chemicals in Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam, Laos and India.

Los Angeles commercial property landlord Thomas Properties Group Inc. has struck an agreement with its longtime investment partner that would allow Thomas to take full ownership of mammoth City National Plaza in downtown Los Angeles and other properties. “We want to increase the number of properties we wholly own or control,” Chief Executive James A. Thomas said. “This is a transformative opportunity for us.” Thomas Properties formed a joint venture with the California State Teachers' Retirement System in 2003 to acquire and upgrade the former Arco Plaza in downtown Los Angeles.

UltraStar Cinemas of San Diego County has formed a joint venture to build more than 40 theaters in China, capitalizing on that country's growing appetite for movies. UltraStar said in a statement Thursday it had formed a joint venture with Letian Entertainment, a subsidiary of China's second-largest broadcast network, to develop and operate theaters throughout China, which is in the midst of a multiplex-building boom. The companies are expected to complete construction of three theaters by the end of 2013, with plans to build an additional 40 cinemas by the end of 2016.

UltraStar Cinemas of San Diego County has formed a joint venture to build more than 40 theaters in China, capitalizing on that country's growing appetite for movies. UltraStar said in a statement Thursday it had formed a joint venture with Letian Entertainment, a subsidiary of China's second-largest broadcast network, to develop and operate theaters throughout China, which is in the midst of a multiplex-building boom. The companies are expected to complete construction of three theaters by the end of 2013, with plans to build an additional 40 cinemas by the end of 2016.

Negotiations are underway for the sale of a prime 6.3-acre slab of empty land in downtown Los Angeles near the Staples Center and the L.A. Live entertainment complex. A Shanghai-based real estate company called Greenland Holdings Group announced late last week that it had signed a “corporation agreement” to buy the development project, known as Metropolis. But the current owners -- a joint venture between IDS Real Estate Group and the California State Teachers' Retirement System -- caution that there has not been an official deal completed, despite media reports.

Charlize Theron's production company is getting further into the reality TV game. Denver & Delilah, which produced Theron films including “Monster” and “Young Adult,” has teamed with reality mainstay Bunim/Murray Productions to make unscripted TV programming. The two companies on Monday announced they have created an unnamed joint venture and have optioned Israeli fashion show “Whose Closet Is it Anyway?” from Keshet International for development in the U.S. PHOTOS: Cable vs. broadcast ratings Each episode of the show, which first aired in Israel in 2011, has three women trade wardrobes and try to cope with each other's different fashion sense.

Los Angeles commercial property landlord Thomas Properties Group Inc. has struck an agreement with its longtime investment partner that would allow Thomas to take full ownership of mammoth City National Plaza in downtown Los Angeles and other properties. “We want to increase the number of properties we wholly own or control,” Chief Executive James A. Thomas said. “This is a transformative opportunity for us.” Thomas Properties formed a joint venture with the California State Teachers' Retirement System in 2003 to acquire and upgrade the former Arco Plaza in downtown Los Angeles.

It's time for South Korea to face facts: The Kaesong experiment has failed. The ideologically motivated joint business venture with North Korea known as the Kaesong industrial complex is not economically viable, nor has it achieved any of its political objectives. To protest recent sanctions against it, the North pulled its workers out this month and locked out workers from the South. Seoul tried to engage North Korea to resolve the dispute, coupled with an uncharacteristic deadline and a warning of "grave consequences.

April 12, 2013 | By Dan Weikel and Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times

The top candidate to build the first 29 miles of California's bullet train in the Central Valley bid just under $1 billion, below the state estimate of the cost, project officials announced Friday. The California High-Speed Rail Authority said Tutor Perini/Zachry/Parsons, a joint venture of U.S. firms, submitted a bid of about $985 million and was ranked first out of five competitors. The team offered the "apparent best value" based on price and technical proposals, evaluators said.

In the last few years China has emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing movie markets, but government restrictions have limited the ability of American studios to export their films there. Now a top Hollywood finance and production company is turning that formula around with a deal to make big-budget movies in China for export around the world. Legendary Pictures, known for its role in such blockbusters as "The Dark Knight" and "The Hangover," has formed a China-based joint venture called Legendary East.

Creative Artists Agency and one of the top talent agencies in India, Kwan Entertainment & Marketing Solutions, have formed a joint venture to represent Bollywood talent, in a move that underscores the importance of the growing Asian market to the entertainment industry. The newly formed CAA Kwan will pursue opportunities for talent in film, television, music, commercial endorsements, sports consulting and other businesses. The company will be based in Mumbai, with offices in Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Sotheby's will expand its presence in China with a new, 10-year joint venture that will see the auction house giant team up with a state-owned Chinese art company. The deal will create a new entity called Sotheby's (Beijing) Auction Co., Ltd. Sotheby's said the new company would be the first international fine-art auction house in China. The agreement is subject to approval from the Chinese government. Under the new deal, Sotheby's said it would focus on auctions and exhibitions.